(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving information.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In a conventional Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system, an Access Point (AP) generally centrally provides a competition-based time resource domain together with beacon start timing information (synchronization method) to a terminal. Further, in the conventional WLAN system, the terminal may only know service information (i.e., discovery information) that the AP provides when the terminal associates with the AP.
In the conventional WLAN system, because the AP provides beacon start timing information for power saving, particularly, in order for a terminal in a sleep mode to detect a search for the terminal, the terminal listens (receives) only for a predetermined time duration. Thereby, it may be regarded that a power saving effect exists, but in order to known discovery information, an entire terminal should perform an association process with an AP and thus system efficiency may be deteriorated due to power waste. For example, when a system that is associated with a first terminal does not provide a service that the first terminal wants, battery waste and time waste occur in the first terminal, and when the system provides a service that a second terminal wants, the first terminal has a negative influence on an association process of the second terminal and thus system efficiency may be deteriorated.